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Tech Talk: ACH debit payments, B2B payments, mortgage data app, and more!

  • GoCardless ACH debit solution
  • Automated ID compliance for banks
  • Minor money mules recruited
  • U.S. lags in financial crime convergence
  • Mortgage data app
  • Mastercard on track to innovate B2B payments
  • The payments game: Banks vs startups
  • Staying ahead of startups
  • Blockchain-powered financial services
  • Spam, Scams & Breaches
  • Updates, Patches & Alerts
  • and on the lighter side...

GoCardless ACH debit solution
In a market where 60 percent of B2B payments are still processed using checks, ACH debit payments are increasingly becoming the preferred payment method of choice for B2B payments and are expected to become the most widely used B2B payment method in the U.S. by 2020. Taking advantage of the exponential growth in ACH B2B payments, U.K. fintech firm GoCardless has set up shop across the pond in San Francisco's financial district and has launched a debit payment solution in the U.S. The firm's ACH debit payment service provides consumers with the option to make automatic ACH payments to businesses via recurring bank payments in lieu of credit cards. TechCrunch has the details.

Automated ID compliance for banks
With the widespread adoption of digital banking services offered by traditional banks and fintech startups, financial firms are facing increased regulatory requirements and scrutiny to prevent money laundering and other types of financial fraud. Traditional manual processes for identifying customers who apply for a financial product, such as a loan or credit card, are no longer sufficient or effective. Fintech provider Alloy has received additional funding for the development of its API and SaaS platform to help banks and other financial providers automate digital identification compliance, reports Forbes.

Minor money mules recruited
Cyber criminals routinely target individuals who are particularly vulnerable to their ploys and often leverage social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, to lure unwitting victims. U.K. fraud prevention body Cifas is warning banks that criminals are recruiting a rising number of teenagers (many of whom now have bank accounts) via social media sites to act as money mules. According to Cifas, the number of cases of 14 to 18-year-olds whose bank accounts have been used to divert funds for criminals has grown by 73 percent in two years, reports BBC.

U.S. lags in financial crime convergence
In the U.S., the financial industry has been moving toward a convergence of fraud and AML compliance departments to improve operational efficiency and more effectively combat financial crimes. U.S. financial institutions might want to pick up the pace. According to a new study commissioned by credit score and analytics firm FICO, most banks plan to integrate their fraud and financial crime compliance systems and activities in response to new criminal threats, but banks in the U.S. are lagging behind their global counterparts in their efforts to adopt an integrated approach to fighting financial crime. Help Net Security has the details.

Mortgage data app
The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, a.k.a., Freddie Mac – one of the largest mortgage lenders in the U.S. – has launched a technology tool which provides lenders with advanced mortgage market data and insight to improve and expand their lending reach. Developed in partnership with business intelligence firm MicroStrategy, ECO: Evaluate|Compare|Optimize&#8480 is a web-based dashboard (available online or via a mobile app) that Freddie Mac clients can use to evaluate market data in lending categories and identify strategic market opportunities. Finextra has the details.

Mastercard on track to innovate B2B
The B2B (business-to-business) payments market is a booming business. Global payments leader Mastercard is on track to transform the $125 trillion B2B market with an open-loop business payments system designed to help automate transactions between buyers and suppliers. Mastercard Track, a new B2B payment ecosystem that offers a single connection to multiple payment types, including ACH, account-to-account, and card-based payments, is currently being piloted exclusively by customers in North America and will be rolled out globally next year, starting with the U.S. market. Payment Week has the details.

The payments game: Banks vs startups
It may be cooling off in many parts of the country, but the heat is on for banks facing growing competition from new players penetrating the $1.5 trillion global payments market with free services. According to a new report from strategy and consulting firm Accenture, banks are on track to lose out on $280 billion in revenue to tech start-ups by 2025, reports Reuters. In a move that signals the willingness of traditional payment leaders to embrace tech disruption in the payments market, Mastercard and Visa have put their money on fintech company Plaid, an API provider that bills itself as "the technology layer for financial services." Banking Dive has the details.

Staying ahead of startups
With the holiday season just around the corner, manufacturers and retailers will be releasing the latest and greatest gadgets designed to deliver more pizzazz and high-tech entertainment to today's tech-savvy generation. The financial industry has seen an influx of new startups that offer digitally-driven consumers more innovative interfaces and streamlined user experiences. To stay relevant and retain customers, traditional community and regional institutions need to have comparable digital offerings in place that are on par with the shiny new services fintech players are touting. ATM Marketplace has the details and four ways banks can stay ahead of fintech startups.

Blockchain-powered financial services
Blockchain's distributed ledger technology that uses a public ledger system to compile and track data in a transparent way is on track to play a pivotal role in the future of the global monetary system. But according to analysts from research and advisory firm Gartner, there are still several hurdles blockchain projects face and the technology is not quite ready for widespread adoption in financial services, reports Banking Dive. Wells Fargo must have missed that memo. The bank plans to pilot an internal blockchain-powered settlement service called Wells Fargo Digital Cash to process cross-border payments within its global network. Blockchain Tech News has the details.

Spams, Scams and Breaches

Updates, Patches and Alerts...

See what other current hot cyber and technology topics affecting financial institutions BOL users are discussing in the Technology Forum.

And on the lighter side...

The rugby World Cup kicks off this weekend in Japan. Fans in London recently experienced the sensation of a professional rugby tackle (sort of) with a Mastercard virtual reality gimmick that simulated a tackle from real England players.

First published on 09/20/2019

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